The present invention relates to an electrical card connector, and particularly to an electrical card connector which has a detecting switch for detecting write-protect of an inserted electrical card.
Electrical card connectors are mounted on printed circuit boards and electrically interconnect an electronic card received therein with the printed circuit board.
A conventional electrical card connector usually includes a switch for the purpose of detecting the presence or writ-protect of an electrical card, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,986. In this patent, referring to FIG. 4, an electrical card connector has a housing 70 and a switch 60 for detecting the presence of an electrical card 14 within the housing 70. The housing 70 defines a slot 40 in an outer side of a sidewall thereof. A channel 41 extends into the slot 40 from an inner side of the sidewall. The switch 60 includes a moveable contact 62 and a fixed contact 64. The moveable contact 62 has a generally U-shaped retaining portion 62b and a spring arm 62d extending from the retaining portion 62b . The U-shaped retaining portion 62b is received in a corresponding groove 66 within the sidewall of the housing 70 to hold the moveable contact 62 within the housing 70. A distal end 62a of the spring arm 62d extends into the slot 40. The fixed contact 64 is received in the slot 40 for contacting the moveable contact 62. In use, the movement of the card 14 causes the moveable contact 62 to contact the fixed contact 64.
The electrical card connector is required to meet more challenging requirements in accordance with the trend toward lighter, thinner, shorter, and smaller electronic devices in the electronic field. The thickness of the sidewall of the conventional electrical card connector cannot be further reduced. Otherwise, the movement of the moveable contact 62 would be difficult.
Additionally, the contacts 62, 64 of the switch 60 of the conventional electrical card connector is entirely supported by the sidewall of the housing 70 of the connector. Reducing the thickness of the sidewall, due to a large required push normal force from the contacts 62, 64 of the switch 60, the sidewall of the housing 70 tends to yield or becomes damaged after a period of use.
Therefore, an improved electrical card connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical card connector having switch which has a reduced thickness of a sidewall of a housing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical card connector having a switch which avoids distortion of the housing and strengthens the strength of the housing.
An electrical card connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of signal contacts received in the housing, an end position switch and a protection-detecting switch for detecting an electrical card as it is in a write-protect state. The housing includes a base portion and a sidewall upwardly extending from a side of the base portion. The sidewall defines a cutout therethrough for locating the protection-detecting switch.
The protection-detecting switch includes an actuating contact and a fixed contact. The actuating contact includes a cantilever. The fixed contact includes a fixing panel. A resilient contact portion extends from the fixing panel for engaging with the cantilever of the actuating contact. When the inserted electrical card is in a write-protect state, the cantilever of the actuating contact is pressed downwardly to engagingly push outwardly the resilient contact portion of the fixed contact.
The protection-detecting switch is insert molded in the sidewall and the base portion of the housing. Thus, force exerted on the protection-detecting switch is not only supported by the sidewall of the housing, but also by the base portion of the housing. The fixing panel longitudinally extends across the cutout for strengthening the strength of the housing. The protection-detecting switch is located in the cutout of the housing. Therefore, the housing need not any groove or channel for receiving the protection-detecting switch. The thickness of the sidewall of the housing is therefore reduced.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.